If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.       1 Corinthians 13:1-3  HCSB

What’s love got to do with it was a song released by Tina Turner in 1984.  According to Wikipedia, it is her most successful single.  In 1993 a movie was made by the same name which depicted Tina Turner’s abusive marriage to Ike Turner.  The song describes someone who has had their heart broken and basically wants to live their life without love complicating things.  And we do know that love complicates things.  When we love someone we will go the extra mile.  When we love someone we will tolerate a little more from that person.  When we love someone, really love someone, we will forgive them time and time again.

The problem is, that as Christians, we are supposed to love everyone, I mean really love everyone.  Not in a lustful or sexual way but in a brotherly way.  This means even the unlovable.  This is probably the area where I struggle the most.  It’s so easy to love someone that treats us kindly and is a genuinely good and kind person.  But what about the grouch?  What about the habitual liar?  What about the arrogant, pompous person?  What about the person that spreads rumors about you?  We all know that loving that person takes a little more work, right?  It’s not quite so easy.  But that’s what God calls us to do.  God knew that this would be difficult, in Ephesians 4:2 he encourages us to be patient, humble and gentle and to bear with one another in love.

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered that we should love the Lord God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind.  He then went on to say that the second greatest commandment is that we love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).  Now obviously he told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because God knew that we love ourselves and often tend to think highly of ourselves.  So if we love our neighbor as we love ourselves then we should really love them, right?  In John 15:12 Jesus instructs his disciples to love one another as He has loved them.  Now we know that Jesus gave His life for us.  We are told that there is no greater love than one that would lay down their life for another (John 15:13).  Jesus gave His life for us.

So the question today, is are you loving others in the same way that Jesus loves you?  It is so easy for us to go to church and extend that hand of fellowship and smile sweetly, but what about the rest of the week?  What about those unlovable people that tend to surround us and get on our last nerve?What about those people that just make us so angry that we want to explode?

As Christians we have an obligation to lovingly point out their mistakes and attempt to help them to correct them.  We are not called to beat them over the head with a bat.  Now we may want to choose the latter of the two options, but that’s not what God calls us to do.

It is often said that your walk should match your talk.  You may hear of Christianity or your witness referred to as your love walk.  The reason for this is that if we walk in love it covers a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12) and believe me we all have a multitude of sins that need to be covered (Romans 3:23).

As you go through this weekend, I would like for you to keep today’s scripture passage in mind.  We can speak many languages, have all the knowledge, have faith to move the mountains, but even with all that we have nothing if we don’t have love.  You may be using a little self defense and trying to live without love.  If you are doing this, you are only cheating yourself.  God calls us to live in perfect fellowship with Him.  He calls us to love not only Him, but one another.  If you are doing a lot of work in your church and reading your Bible and praying and things are not going so well, look at your love walk?  Are you loving others as the Bible calls for us to do?  It’s just a little something we need to ponder.

When you encounter those that are unlovable, remember that we must call on God’s strength to love them.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Have a great weekend!